Our Friends in the North - Netflix

Editor

A nine part series depicting the varying fortunes of four friends -
Nicky, Geordie, Mary and Tosker - from the optimistic times of 1964 to
the uncertainties of 1995. Taking nine pivotal years (1964, 1966, 1967,
1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995) the personal lives of the characters
become intertwined with the political struggles of their home town of
Newcastle, and the capital, London. We also see the machinations behind
the scenes that affect their lives, often for the worse: slum housing
projects, police corruption, the rise of Thatcherism, political sleaze,
and specific events like the 1984 Miners' Strike.

Type: Scripted

Languages: English

Status: Ended

Runtime: 70 minutes

Premier: 1996-01-15

Our Friends in the North - Friends - Netflix

Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and
Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6,
2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer
Aniston, Courtney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry
and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six 20–30-something
friends living in Manhattan. The series was produced by
Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros.
Television. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Marta
Kauffman, and David Crane. Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends
under the title Insomnia Cafe between November and December 1993. They
presented the idea to Bright, and together they pitched a seven-page
treatment of the show to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes,
including a title change to Six of One, and, Friends Like Us, the series
was finally named Friends. Filming of the show took place at Warner
Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. All ten seasons of Friends ranked
within the top ten of the final television season ratings; ultimately
reaching the no. 1 spot in its eighth season. The series finale, aired
on May 6, 2004, was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers,
making it the fifth most-watched series finale in television history,
and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s decade. Friends
received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular
television shows of all time. The series was nominated for 62 Primetime
Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its
eighth season. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows
of All Time, and no. 7 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of
All Time. In 1997, the episode “The One with the Prom Video” was ranked
no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2013,
Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written
TV Series of All Time, and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All
Time.

Our Friends in the North - Cast and characters - Netflix

In their original contracts for the first season, cast members were paid
$22,500 per episode. The cast members received different salaries in the
second season, beginning from the $20,000 range to $40,000 per episode.
Before their salary negotiations for the third season, the cast decided
to enter collective negotiations, despite Warner Bros.' preference for
individual deals. The actors were given the salary of the least-paid
cast member, meaning Aniston and Schwimmer had their salaries reduced.
The stars were paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in
season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000
in seasons seven and eight, and $1 million in seasons nine and ten,
making Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow the highest-paid TV actresses of all
time. The cast also received syndication royalties beginning in 2000
after renegotiations. At the time, that financial benefit of a piece of
the show's lucrative back-end profits had only been given out to stars
who had ownership rights in a show, like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby.
Series creator David Crane wanted all six actors to be equally
prominent, and the series was lauded as being “the first true 'ensemble'
show.” The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not
allow one member to dominate; they entered themselves in the same acting
categories for awards, opted for collective salary negotiations, and
asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.
The cast members also became best friends off-screen, so much so that
recurring guest star Tom Selleck reported that he sometimes felt left
out. The cast remained good friends after the series run, most notably
Cox and Aniston, with Aniston being godmother to Cox and David
Arquette's daughter, Coco. In the official farewell commemorative book
Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in interviews that
the cast had become their family.